1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an autonomous driving control apparatus and method using navigation technology and, more particularly, to an autonomous driving control apparatus and method that utilize navigation technology as a communication means for providing an adjacent vehicle and a pedestrian with current driving information and future driving information regarding a vehicle that is being driven in autonomous driving mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
The autonomous driving system of an autonomous driving vehicle is a system for recognizing a surrounding environment without the intervention of a driver, determining driving conditions, and autonomously driving the vehicle to a predetermined destination by controlling the vehicle.
Although a driver drives a vehicle while continuously communicating with adjacent vehicles and pedestrians, a conventional autonomous driving system only has the purpose of driving a vehicle to a predetermined destination without accident.
If an autonomous driving system drives a vehicle without communication, a driver within a vehicle, an adjacent vehicle, and a pedestrian may experience an unexpected accident. Furthermore, since a current autonomous driving system is not perfect for all road driving environments (e.g., a working zone and an accident zone), a driver needs to periodically monitor the results of the recognition and behavior of the autonomous driving system. Furthermore, when vehicles are at a standstill on a road, drivers need to escape from such a traffic congestion state through communication. Moreover, when a pedestrian crosses a road, a driver within a vehicle and the pedestrian recognize their behaviors through eye contact. In this case, an autonomous driving system is also required to communicate with a pedestrian because a driver may be drowsy or may not be sitting in the driver's seat.
In relation to this, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0005362 discloses an autonomous driving control system.